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Hock
Definitions
- 1 A surname.
- 1 A Rhenish wine, of a light yellow color, either sparkling or still, from the Hochheim region; often applied to all Rhenish wines. countable, uncountable
"That night he strolled into the Palette Club about eleven o’clock, and found Trevor sitting by himself in the smoking-room drinking hock and seltzer."
- 2 The tarsal joint of a digitigrade quadruped, such as a horse, pig or dog. countable
"Anyway, you only have one golden retriever, SWORDDOG, and she is already armed to the hocks."
- 3 Pawn, obligation as collateral for a loan. informal, uncountable
"He needed $750 to get his guitar out of hock at the pawnshop."
- 4 Alternative form of hawk (“cough”). alt-of, alternative, informal
"One or two coughs signified 1 or 2. Clearing a throat meant 3. A loud hock was 4 and a loud sneeze or spit indicated 5. The new system gained favor. Jerry figured the guards must have thought the POWs were near death given the volume of bodily noise coming from Alcatraz."
- 5 The last card turned up in the game of faro. informal
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- 6 tarsal joint of the hind leg of hoofed mammals; corresponds to the human ankle wordnet
- 7 Meat from that part of a food animal. countable, uncountable
- 8 Debt. informal, uncountable
"They were in hock to the bank for $35 million."
- 9 any of several white wines from the Rhine River valley in Germany (‘hock’ is British usage) wordnet
- 10 The hollow behind the knee. countable
- 11 Installment purchase. informal, uncountable
"Later, Uncle Doc bought a couch on hock, then a bed."
- 12 Prison. informal, uncountable
- 1 To disable by cutting the tendons of the hock; to hamstring; to hough. transitive
- 2 To leave with a pawnbroker as security for a loan. colloquial, transitive
"Agent Beeman (Noah Emmerich): I think we got him. / Special Agent Gaad (Richard Thomas): Who? / Agent Beeman: I-I-I don't know. The guy who killed Chris, the--the Russians, the whole damn thing maybe. / Special Agent Gaad: You want to sit down? / Agent Beeman: The guy from the salvage yard who hocked the ring, and he does business with some riffraff from the projects."
- 3 To bother; to pester; to annoy incessantly. US, informal
- 4 Alternative form of hawk (“cough, clear one's throat of phlegm”). alt-of, alternative, informal
- 5 disable by cutting the hock wordnet
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- 6 leave as a guarantee in return for money wordnet
Etymology
Clipping of hockamore, from German.
From Middle English hough, hoche, hokke, from Old English hōh, from Proto-West Germanic *hą̄h, from Proto-Germanic *hanhaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kenk-. See also West Frisian hakke, Dutch hak, German Low German Hacke, Hack (“heel”); also Lithuanian ki̇̀nka (“leg, thigh, knee-cap”), kenklė̃ (“knee-cap”), Sanskrit कङ्काल (kaṅkāla, “skeleton”).
From Middle English hough, hoche, hokke, from Old English hōh, from Proto-West Germanic *hą̄h, from Proto-Germanic *hanhaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kenk-. See also West Frisian hakke, Dutch hak, German Low German Hacke, Hack (“heel”); also Lithuanian ki̇̀nka (“leg, thigh, knee-cap”), kenklė̃ (“knee-cap”), Sanskrit कङ्काल (kaṅkāla, “skeleton”).
From the phrase in hock, circa 1855-60, from Dutch hok (“hutch, hovel, jail, pen, doghouse”). Compare also Middle English hukken (“to sell; peddle; sell at auction”), see huck.
From the phrase in hock, circa 1855-60, from Dutch hok (“hutch, hovel, jail, pen, doghouse”). Compare also Middle English hukken (“to sell; peddle; sell at auction”), see huck.
From Yiddish האַק (hak), imperative singular form of האַקן (hakn, “to knock”), from the idiomatic expression האַק מיר נישט קיין טשײַניק (hak mir nisht keyn tshaynik, “don't knock a teakettle at me”).
Probably imitative (a variant form of hawk (“cough”)), like hack (“cough”), although see that entry for more.
Probably imitative (a variant form of hawk (“cough”)), like hack (“cough”), although see that entry for more.
See also for "hock"
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